Double action thread catcher



Dec. 20, 1938.

DOUBLE ACTION THREAD OATCHER Filed Jan. 25, 19381 2 Sheets-Sheet l IFIEJ.

5 a: 45 7316 sa as 34 A as FIE] ,4;

45 N an F v ATTORNEY.

INVENTOR.

Patented Dec. 20, 1938 UNITED STA-T EIS PATENT OFFICE 6. Claims.

This invention relates to automatic loo-ms of the bobbin" changing type. Inthis type of loom there is a rotarybatteryin which a plurality of bobbins, each wound with a substantial amount of thread,

are placed.

In this type of loom, ordinarily, there is a feeler on the side of the loom opposite the battery which detects when thefilling on a bobbin is almost exhausted and which then sets in motion devices on the battery side whereby, when the shuttle is picked back, a new fullbobbin is pushed down into the shuttle, thus pushingthe old bobbin down and out through theshuttle and taking its place.

The end of. the new thread on the new bobbin T5 is fastenedto the battery or to a knob or other stationary part of the loom which is higher than the top of the shuttle. and this thread unwinds from the bobbin as the shuttle is driven across.

the loom on the next pick. As the harnesses then 20 change the shed, the thread end from the new bobbin as well as the thread end from and on the old bo'obin are both caught at the selvage edge of the cloth on the battery side.v

Eventually these thread ends are both out at 25 the selvage edge of the cloth it is desirable that these ends should be kept out of the cloth or the warp and out of the way of the shuttle. The purpose'of this. device is to catch and hold both ends and keep them out. of the way. The device 301 shown in the patent to. Stimpson, #1,132,227,

March 26, 1914, shows an arm attached to the breast beam with a hook at the top and an extension on the front inner side of. the shuttle box which causes the new thread end to rise up and 35: drop in front of the hook which is supposed to keep it out of the way.

A serious objection to this construction is that as the lay beats up, if the shuttle is not far enough in the box, it strikes this arm and bends 40 or breaks it. There are other devices for taking care of one or both ends but these involve moving parts and are more or less complicated. This device is simple, it catches both the old and the new thread and in the preferred forms, it will 45 yield if the shuttle strikes it but will return to itsnormal position when theshuttle moves away.

The purpose of my device is to take care of both the thread ends from the new bobbin'and from the old bobbin.

50* When the old bobbin is being pushed out of the shuttle, its thread runs through the shuttle eye along a thread groove behind the front wall of the shuttle box and thence back along the shuttle race to the selvage edge of the cloth. When the 55x old bobbin is pushed out by the new bobbin, this,

end; should be taken away to avoid trouble. Formerly it was immediately cut at the selvage edge of thecloth by a temple cutter and-it then ran; back out of, thershuttle eye. On account of itslength, however, it often would get tangled 5 up-with the'newthread. Shuttles, therefore, have been-,made with. a' cutter hole back of and near the, eye and a. hole has been made through the front. wall of: theshuttle box so that a holder and a cutter could; be moved back through or into 10,

them at-the right time and not only cut the thread. a short distance outside the shuttle eye but? also t0;ho1d the cut end. so that there would be an end of; thread between this cutter and the selvage edge of the cloth. Eventually this end is cut and it is desirable that this old cut end should be. kept, out of the way before and after being cut by the temple cutter and before and after it is; released by the holder and cutter.

Whatever thread is left between the holder cutter and the old bobbin runs back through the shuttle eye and is carried down through the shuttle by the ejected bobbin.

. My-device is; exceedingly simple but is so made andiso-placedthat it takes care of the end of the old, bobbin thread and of the new bobbin thread.

In the, drawings,

Fig. 1. is a plan view showingparts of the battery side of an automatic loom with the lay and its associated parts in its front position and with the: new bobbin in place in the shuttle with the thread on the new bobbin still fastened to the battery as it is before the first pick. It also shows the, cut end of the thread from the old bobbin.

Figs. 2 and 3 are enlarged sectional side elevations as on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow.

Fig. 2' shows. the position of the shuttle, shuttle box, gooseneck, and my device in full lines when the lay has advanced almost to the forward position. The gooseneck in its original position is shown by'the dotted lines.

Fig. 3 shows. the shuttle, gooseneck and other parts in the forward position at the time of transfer.

' Fig. 4 is a plan View similar to Fig. 1 showing the-position of the shuttle and other parts after the shuttle has moved from its box and is starting through the shed of the warp.

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the front wall of the shuttle box.

Fig. 6. is a sectional side elevation looking in the direction. of the arrow on line 6-6 of Fig. 4 showing the desirable and normal position of the thread ends.

embodiments of my yieldable thread catching arm.

In the drawings, I will refer to the side of a loom where the cloth is wound as the front and the opposite side as the back. I will refer to the r the trailing end of the threadfrom the'old bobbin outside as distinguished from the inside of theloom and I will refer to the side where the battery D is located as the battery side.

In the drawings, B represents the stationary breast beam and L the movable lay beam which carries the reed l2 and on which is a shuttle race ill and a shuttle box M comprising a movable shuttle binder at the back and a stationary front wall 2 at the front. In this front wall 2 is a selvage edge of the cloth.

F represents a thread cutting and holding device which is adapted to enter the slot at 4 in the front wall of the shuttle box M and go into the hole 24 in the shuttle S just far enough to seize and cut the thread 4| from the old bobbin 40, holding it at 42 so that it extends to the selvage of the cloth at 43, forming an old bobbin thread end 45.

55 represents the new bobbin on which the thread 5| is wound. The end 52 of this thread 5| is fastened to a knob I03 on battery D when the new bobbin 50 goes into the shuttle S. This thread end at 55 after the first pick extends downward and inward to the selvage edge of the cloth C at 53, as shown in Fig. 8. a

A represents the principal feature of this inven' tion which is a catcher arm of a certain shape located in a certain position so that it will catch and the end of the thread from the new bobbin.

In its simplest form it is made of flexible or springy sheet material and is fastened in the right place to the breast beam 3 by a bolt 39 which passes through a slot 30. By using a slot of this size and shape, the arm can be raised or lowered and turned up or down so that the tip 3| of its free end or nose 32 will be in exactly the right position. This nose 32 slopes up and forward and at itstop ends in a forward raking tooth or hook 33. front of the loom. Nose 32 slopes up and forward but from the top of teeth 33 and 34, the top edge 35 slopes down and forward to a low place 35 just behind the breast beam B. As shown, the arm A may be bent at 31 so that it will not turn on bolt 35.

. The forward tip 3| of the nose 32 should be so positioned that when the shuttle S is correctly in its box M and the lay beam is in its forward position, the shuttle tip 2| will be perhaps one-eighth Preferably there is another tooth 34 near the of an inch below the tip 3| of arm A which will be perhaps one-half inch inside the shuttle tip 2| if it is in its correct'position in the shuttle box.

The back face 8 of the front wall 2 of the shuttle box M is preferably vertical and while it is desirable that the tip 3| of the arm should be slightly below the top inside edge of the bottom of slot 5 at its inside end B, the device will work if that tip is above the top of the inside end 6, if the arm and the gooseneok N are set in a particular way.

If the temple cutter G at the selvage edge of the cloth was omitted, the selvage would eventually be pulled out of position by the trailing ends of the thread from the new and the old bobbin. When the feeler indicates transfer, it causes the gooseneok N to move up from the dotted position shown in Fig. 2 and in full lines in Figs. 4 and 6 to the full line position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and if its tip 20 can be set close enough to the bottom face 22 of the shuttle race I ll so that it slips under the thread end 45 of the old bobbin, it lifts that thread 45 over its sloping curved face 23 and carries it on to'the top of the nose 32 of arm A until it is caught by tooth 33 or tooth 34 as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. As the lay beam beats up, the combination cutter and holder F moves through slot 4, then seizes and cuts the thread 4| and as the lay moves back, holder F moves forward, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, thus slipping the thread end 45 up along slot 3 from 4 to 6 when it slips up and over the hook 33 on the top of arm A if it has not already slipped up to that position.

Under these circumstances, this thread end 45 is on the top' of the nose of arm A but if the gooseneok N cannot be so adjusted as to lift the thread 45 as it extends from between the back S of front wall 2 of the shuttle box to the selvage edge 43 of the cloth C, the operation is somewhat different.

Every shuttle S has along the middle of its front wall a thread groove 1 through which the thread runs from the shuttle eye. When in the shuttle box, the thread is confined in this groove by the back face 8 of the front wall 2, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and '7, and is held perhaps from three-eighths to three-fourths of an inch above the top surface 22 of the shuttle race and above the place 43 where the filling thread is beaten up by the reed l2 to the selvage of the cloth C.

If the tip 3| of nose 32 was made pointed and positioned close to the bottom face 22 of the shuttle race lll on the top of the lay beam L, it would pick up the thread but it would pick it up on every pick and that is not desirable. Besides that, if the shuttle was not thoroughly in the box, this sharp end would strike the shuttle down near its lower part and would seriously scratch that face of the shuttle which should be perfectly smooth.

It is, therefore, desirable that this tip 3| should be in such a position that ordinarily the filling thread will go under it and if the tip 3| should hit the shuttle because the shuttle was not far enough in the box, it should be blunt and should hit the shuttle at a place above the thread groove 7 where the filling thread seldom gets. As the gooseneok N only comes up when there is a transfer and when the filling on a spent bobbin is almost gone and the bobbin has been picked for' firmly that, especially with elastic yarn like rayon, the middle part is carried back as shown by the arrows in Fig. 4 between 6 and 2, until on account of the slope of'slot 3, it finally snaps up from back face 8 over the top 6 .which is thenin such a,

position that it snaps up over the tip 3| and is caught by the tooth 33.

In the meantime, the thread 55 which is fastened at one end at a relatively high place I00 on the battery D unwinds from the new bobbin as the shuttle is picked and when the lay moves forward with the threadend 55, the reed 12 carries end 55 up over nose 32 of arm A beyond tooth 33 where it is caught. The angle of this thread from thebattery at !00 to the selvage of the cloth 53 which is at the top 9 of the breast beam B is such that it permits tip 3| of nose 32 and hook 33 to be set quite close to the back wall of box M or the front wall of binder, I whereby the angle of the thread brings it over and into tooth on the second pick. See Fig. 8.

Both thread ends from the old and the new bobbin are, therefore, now caught and held after the second pick by the tooth 33 and as the cloth is woven and moves forward on the breast beam 23, they are carried over onto and held by tooth and eventually slip down and over the top edge 35 and to 35. If and when caught by the selvage cutter G, they cannot possiblyget into the shed or into the shuttle. I

I prefer to make my arm A of thin springy material such as steel, celluloid or even rubber so that as shown by the full lines in Fig. 9, if the shuttle is not in its box, the arm A can easily bend without being broken and without injuring the shuttle but will spring back into shape and position when the shuttle is removed, as shown by the dotted lines.

As shown in Fig. 10, I find it sometimes convenient to make my armsuoh as H with an S or double bend so that when it gives way, as shown by the full lines, it will occupy less lateral space.

The part i535 may be flat and straight so that it can be readily attached to the breast beam and there may be one or more bends. Preferably, the tip end [93 is bent a little in a direction towards the inside of the loom so that it will bend easily or slip sideways along the front end or wall I04 of the shuttle without injuring the surface of the shuttle.

As shown in Fig. 11, a yieldable arm J may have straight part I06 and a considerable number of bends or corrugations EDT. The tip I08 of the nose may be bent almost at right angles.

As shown in Fig. 12, I may use instead of an elastic bendable material, an arm K with an end 8% by which it is fastened to the frame of the loom, a supporting member 8| and a hollow member 82 from the top of which a longitudinal slot extends down through the cylindrical hole 84 to serve as a guide for the flat, slidable member till which has a nose 86 including two teeth 9| and 92 and a slot 81 through which a pin 88 passes. Preferably also there is another hole 8E! for ball guide 00 which with the pin 88 guides this slidable member or part 85 when it is pushed back as when it strikes a shuttle which is not in its box. When so struck, it moves against a coil spring 93. This arm K is, therefore, a yieldable arm which yields from back to front instead of sideways as do arms A, H and J.

In all cases, the nose must be capable of yielding from back to front and preferably the arm should be so made that the nose will return to its normal position when the shuttle moves or is moved" away.

As shown in Fig. 13, I may use an arm T pivoted to a hanger 99 which is attached to an arm 200 attached to the breast beam and adjustable by means of two slots 20!, 202 and nut 203. This arm T is pivoted at 95 and as shown is a one piece arm. It'extends out forward at 9'5, down at 9'l and up and forward at ,98', the front part 58 being of the same shape as in the other construction with the addition. of a plurality of notches. When and if this yieldable arm T strikes a shuttle which" is not entirely in the box, it simply swings back as shown by the dotted lines, but when the shuttle is out of the way, it swings forward into the position determined by the slots 20] and 202 and stop cam 94 and catches b'oththreads as in the other constructions.

I claim:

1 The combination in an automatic bobbin changing loom having a stationary breast beam, a bobbin battery and means for transferring bobbins, a movable lay beam with a shuttle race, a shuttle box on the battery side having a shuttle binder at the back, and having a wall at the front on the lay beam, there being through the wall a slot which starts from the outside substantially opposite a cutter hole in a shuttle when a shuttle. is'in' the box and which extends towards the inside upward and out near the top, the back" inside face of the Wall being substantialy vertical; of thread cutting and holding means adapted to go through the slot in the shuttle box front wall and into the cutter hole in the shuttle to cut the thread on the ejected bobbin and to hold-the end of the part of the old thread which extends to the cloth selvage and to move it forward and a temple cutter at the selvage edge of the cloth; with a thread catching arm so. fastened to the breast beam and of such shape'that the normal position of the tip of its nose is below and proximate the top insideen'd of the shuttle box front wall when the lay beats up, said arm sloping up and forward from the tip and having two teeth at the top which rake forward, the top edge of the arm sloping down and back to the level of the breast beam, said arm being characterized by its ability to yield towards the front and to return its nose to its normal position, whereby when said thread cutting and holding means moves forward, the thread held thereby rides up forwardly over the nose to the tooth to be held thereby until its selvage end is cut by the temple cutter.

2 The combination in an automatic bobbin changing loom having a stationary breast beam, a bobbin battery and means for transferring bobbins, a movable lay beam with a shuttle race,

a shuttle box on the battery side having a shuttle binder at the back and having a wall at the front of the lay beam, there being through the wall a. slot which starts from the outside substantially opposite a cutter hole in a shuttle when a shuttle is in the box and extends towards the inside upward and out near the top, the back inside face of the wall being substantially vertical; of thread cutting and holding means adapted to go through the slot in the shuttle box front wall and into the cutter hole in the shuttle to out the thread on the ejected bobbin and to hold the end of the part of the old thread which extends to the cloth selvage; with a thread catching arm so fastened to the breast beam and of such shape that the normal position of the tip of its nose is proximate the top inside end of the shuttle box front wall when the lay beats up, said arm sloping upand forward from the tip and having a tooth at the top which rakes forward, the top edge of the arm sloping down and back to the level of the breast beam, said arm being characterized by its ability to yield towards the front and to return its nose to its normal position, whereby when the back inside face of the shuttle box wall moves back, the thread rides up and over its inside end and over the nose to the tooth to be held thereby.

3. The combination in an automatic bobbin changing loom having a stationary breast beam,

a bobbin battery and means for transferring bobbins, a movable lay beam with a shuttle race, a shuttle box on the battery side having a shuttle binder at the back and having a wall at the front on the lay beam, there being through the wall a slot which starts from the outside and extends towards the inside upward and out near the top; of thread cutting and holding means adapted to go through the slot in the shuttle box front wall to cut the thread on the ejected bobbin and to hold the end of the part of the old thread which extends to the cloth selvage'; with a thread catching arm so fastened to the breast beam and of such shape that the normal position of the tip of its nose is proximate the top inside end of the shuttle box front wall when the lay beats up, said arm sloping up and forward from the tip and having a tooth at the top which rakes forward, the top edge of the arm sloping down and back, said arm being characterized by its ability to yield towards the front and to return its nose to its normal position, whereby when the back inside face of the shuttle box wall moves back, the thread rides up and over its inside end and over the nose to the tooth to be held thereby.

4. The combination in an automatic bobbin changing loom having a stationary breast beam, a bobbin battery and means for transferring bobbins, a movable lay beam with a shuttle race,

the top, and a gooseneck carried by the breast beam which enters the shuttle race before transfer and has at its free end an upwardly slop- :ing curved top face; of thread cutting and holdging means adapted to go through the slot in the shuttle box front wall to cut the thread on the ejected bobbin and to hold the end of the part of the old thread which extends to the cloth selvage; with a thread catching arm so fastened to the breast beam and of such shape that the normal position of the tip of its nose is between the gooseneck and the shuttle box front wall and below the top face of the free end of the gooseneck when the lay beats up, said arm sloping up, and forward from the tip and having a tooth at the top which rakes forward, the top edge of the arm sloping down and back, said arm being characterized by its ability to yield towards the front and to return its nose to its normal position.

5. A thread catching arm made of springy material having means at one end to attach it to a breast beam and at its other end having a nose which slopes up to a tooth which rakes away from the nose tip, the top edge of the arm then sloping. down, the arm being so made that it can yield between the no se and the breast beam when the nose strikes a shuttle and can return to its normal position when the shuttle moves away. 7

6. A thread catching arm attached at one end to the breast beam and at the other end having a nose with a tip which is proximate the top inside end of the shuttle box front wall, said nose sloping up and forward from the tip and having a tooth at the top which rakes forward, the arm being so made that its nose can yield towards the front when the shuttle strikes it but the nose will return to its normal position when the shuttle moves away.

LEON DROLET. 

